With just six days until Election Day, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris made appearances in North Carolina on Wednesday.
They were 60 miles apart and started their speeches within an hour of each other.
Harris was in Raleigh, Trump down U.S. 64 in Rocky Mount. Two very different visions for the future of the country were on display, each pointing fingers at the other for failures and inability.
In her 20-minute speech, Harris emphasized abortion access, promising to sign a bill restoring “reproductive freedom” if elected president.
“Ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom like the fundamental freedom of a woman to be able to make decisions about her own body,” she said.
Trump spent much of his 86-minute address on immigration and economic policy.
“They’ve allowed millions and millions of people to come into our country that are criminals,” Trump said of the Biden administration. “They call it immigration. It’s not immigration. It’s horrible.”
Both candidates emphasized the urgency of this election.
“We have to get this done now, because we’re not going to have a second chance,” Trump said. “We are a nation in decline. But don’t worry, we will not be a nation in decline for too much longer.”
In her rally, Harris – given the party nomination in a campaign that didn’t get a single primary vote and will be 107 days old on Tuesday – said “democracy” is at stake.
“We know we are actually fighting for our democracy and, unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,” Harris said. “He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at the table.”
It contrasted her boss, President Joe Biden, saying Tuesday that Trump’s supporters were “garbage.” No speaker in Rocky Mount, including the former president, let that one go.
“They’ve bullied you, they’ve demeaned us, they’ve demonized us, and censored us, and deplatformed us, and weaponized the power of our own government against us. They’ve gone after their political opponent, me,” Trump said. “They are so dishonest. ‘Donald Trump is doing terrible things. He wants to put us in jail.’ That’s what they’ve been trying to do to me for three years.”
Considered one of seven battleground states, winning North Carolina is critical in the race for the White House. Both candidates have frequented the state, and there will be more.
So far, early voting in the state has had historic turnout.
According to a daily report released by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, 3.4 million of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters have already cast their ballots. Republicans are also turning out in much higher numbers than ever before.
The Harris campaign remains confident in her chances of being the first Democrat to win the state since former President Barack Obama in 2008, despite Trump continuing to lead in the polls. He was not ahead in either 2016 or 2020 when he won the state’s then-15 electoral college votes.
Sixteen are at stake this year.
Trump leads the polls by an average of 1.1%, well within the margin of error, according to Project 538. RealClear Polling also had Trump leading in the polling average in North Carolina by 1%.
Those percentages do not include a margin of error. Statistically and according to prognosticators, the race is a toss-up.
“We all know how imperfect polls can be, but, we’ve got nothing better and they are telling us that this is a tight race,” said Dr. Steven Greene, professor of political science at N.C. State University. “Both candidates also clearly believe this state is a tight race or they would not be investing so many resources here. The scarcest campaign resource is a candidate’s time.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also appeared in Charlotte and Asheville on Wednesday. Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, will be leading a town hall in High Point on Thursday morning and goes to Selma on Friday.
The final day of early in-person voting for the state is Saturday and Harris goes to Charlotte while Trump stumps in Greensboro. Early voting concludes with absentee by mail ballots due to election offices by close of polls – 7:30 p.m. – on Tuesday.
In his rally, Trump addressed comments made recently by Biden, emphasizing the “hatred” he sees in the political rhetoric.
“Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them ‘garbage,’” Trump said. “My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple. You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans and you can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hatred.”
Harris called on Democrats to join together in the last few days before the election.
“Let’s spend the next six days so that when we look back at these six days, we will know we did everything we could,” she said. “We are all in this together.”
